GM Prevails Bricklin's Visionary Vehicles Will Not Use "Chery" Name in US

DETROIT September 20, 2005; Poornima Gupta writing for Reuters reported that Visionary Vehicles founder Malcolm Bricklin said on Tuesday that he will not market cars from Chinese automaker Chery Automobile Co. in the United States under the Chery name because of objections from General Motors Corp.

GM has threatened legal action if Bricklin uses the brand name "Chery" to bring in Chinese-made cars and trucks to the U.S. market. The world's largest automaker says that "Chery" sounds too similar to its "Chevy" brand, short for Chevrolet.

"They win," Bricklin said at the Reuters Autos Summit in Detroit.

"The last thing I need is to have 250 signs taken down," Bricklin said. "I can't afford to even gamble."

Bricklin's privately held Visionary Vehicles has signed a deal with China's Chery with the goal of selling 250,000 Chery vehicles in the first year and eventually one million units annually.

Bricklin said he is now considering using the Visionary Vehicles name to market the cars. The first five models will be designed as low-cost luxury cars that will retail for $19,000 to $25,000.

"We haven't decided yet," he added.

Bricklin also said the launch of the cars could be delayed by a few months because of changes in product specifications.

The cars would now hit the U.S. market in the summer of 2007, he said. The previous target was January 2007.

"It's ambitious ... it absolutely could get delayed," Bricklin said.

The man best known for importing the cheap Yugo hatchback into the United States in 1980s said he has signed on 30 dealers to sell the Chinese-built cars and has 163 others in the pipeline.

New York-based Visionary Vehicles has plans to open 250 dealerships around the country.